This application is a continuation-in-part of the following applications: (1) U.S. application Ser. No. 11/067,215 filed Feb. 25, 2005 now abandoned, (2) U.S. application Ser. No. 11/318,357 filed Dec. 22, 2005, (3) U.S. application Ser. No. 11/358,013 filed Feb. 21, 2006, and (4) U.S. application Ser. No. 11/412,234 filed Apr. 25, 2006.
The present invention is directed to the collection and disposal of waste materials such as garbage and trash, and in particular, it is directed to a waste management system that includes a combination trash receptacle, pouch, and cartridge that contains a supply of plastic liners or bags for use within the receptacle.
Trash receptacles or cans are often fitted with a plastic liner for sanitation purposes and for convenience when disposing of the collected waste. Therefore, it is desirable to have replacement bags stored within easy reach of the trash receptacle to provide ready access to a new liner after a filled liner is removed from the trash receptacle. Various means for providing such ready access are shown in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,215 granted to Windle on Sep. 26, 2000, discloses a dispenser attached to an outside surface of a trash container for storing a plurality of liners. Windle provides ready access to liners. However, it is difficult to remove a single liner from a stack of stored liners. Absent a liner retention means, when a liner is pulled from the dispenser, more often than not, a plurality of stored liners is removed from the dispenser. As a result, the unwanted liners are stuffed back into the dispenser making the next single liner removal more difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,847 granted to Pedersen et al. on Sep. 30, 1997, overcomes the single liner removal problem associated with Windle by providing a dispenser containing a continuous strip of perforated liners. However, the Pedersen et al. dispenser is placed in the bottom of a trash container where it is exposed to liquids that may seep into the bottom of the container. Such placement creates unpleasant conditions when replacements are pulled from the dispenser. In addition, when pulled from a dispenser, a continuous strip of perforated liners often do not separate along the perforations, and more often than not, more than one liner is pulled from the dispenser. In such an event, the additional length of liners falls to the container bottom where it is coated with collected liquids.
Gola overcomes the problem of liners being exposed to undesirable liquids in U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,424 granted on May 13, 1997. The patent discloses a trash container having a bottom panel attached to base portion that dispenses either a continuous strip of perforated liners or a box of individual bags. The bottom panel is sloped upward to a slot through which the stored liners are dispensed, and the sloped surface prevents liquids from seeping into the base portion where the liners are stored. However, it is well known that stacked items, for example tissues dispensed from a tissue box, or the like, often do not withdraw a portion of the next item when used. In such an instance, when a portion of the next liner is not pulled through the dispenser slot, complicated rethreading of stored liners must be completed to make the Gola dispenser operable.